


I’ll Come Around (If You Ever Want To Be In Love)

by fabuloushazza



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 12:33:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14934350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabuloushazza/pseuds/fabuloushazza
Summary: Harry Styles, a single father, volunteers to help out with a school play that his daughter is a part of. Little does he know that he would meet someone that would soon become a huge part of his life.





	I’ll Come Around (If You Ever Want To Be In Love)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [QuickedWeen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuickedWeen/gifts).



School Play Auditions  
March 13th, 14th and 15th  
3:30 P.M.  
Sign Up Here.

Elizabeth Styles stared at the brightly colored piece of paper in front of her with wide eyes. Being at a new school would mean a fresh start for her. She wanted to try something to break out of her shell a little bit more and maybe, just maybe, this was it.

She took a photo of the flyer and ran home, excited to tell her father.

-

 

"Dad!"

Harry, Elizabeth's father, heard his daughter from the other side of the house.

Elizabeth excitedly dashed into the kitchen.

“How was school?” Harry asked.

“Good,” she answered, showing her father the picture she had taken of the flyer.

“What’s that for?” Harry asked, pointing at the photo.

“The school play. Auditions are this week,” Elizabeth explained, “Can I sign up?”

“Of course you can.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome.”

-

It was March 14th, the day she decided to audition, and to say she was nervous would be a complete understatement. She was already starting to second guess her decision to sign up, but it was too late. She had already put pen to paper and there was no going back.

The time came for everyone who was auditioning to enter the auditorium. The room was filled of people who were complete strangers to Elizabeth, but could possibly become her castmates - that is, if she made it into the play.

“Good afternoon, I’m Mr. Payne and I’m the director. Mr. Tomlinson here will assist me in directing this play.”

Each person in the room was called in alphabetical order, making Elizabeth close to being last. With every second that passed by, she grew to be more and more nervous.

Once she actually started singing, it felt as though everything had faded away, and by the time her audition was finished, she left feeling pretty confident that she would do well.

-

A week passed by, and the cast list had finally been posted. Elizabeth tried to squeeze her way through the crowd of teenagers who all wanted the same thing as her - to see what part they got.

Elizabeth finally managed to make her way to the front of the crowd. She frantically looked at the piece of paper in front of her, hoping her name was somewhere on it, and there it was - at the top of the list.

She couldn’t believe what she just saw. She must have been dreaming. She blinked but then when she stared at the paper again, she knew it was real - she had gotten the female lead.

Elizabeth brought home a packet full of information about the show. It had all the dates and times for each rehearsal and each show.

When the first rehearsal was over, she waited for her father to pick her up. After waiting until she was the only student left in the room, her father finally arrived.

By that point, Mr. Payne had left, and Mr. Tomlinson was still in the room, organizing a few things.

He overheard Elizabeth talking to her father and quickly rushed over to interrupt them.

“Mr. Styles, right?”

Harry nodded.

“I’m Louis Tomlinson - assistant director,” Louis said confidently.

“Harry. Nice to meet you,” Harry replied.

“My pleasure,” Louis told him before handing him a sheet of paper, “Here’s a piece of paper with everything the children in the play and their parents need to know about it. Every rehearsal day and time is on there, along with the dates and times for the shows. I’m assuming you’ll be attending one of them?”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Harry said with a smile before glancing at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth smiled back at him.

“We better get going,” he said to the two of them, gesturing for Elizabeth to leave, “It was nice meeting you, Mr. Tomlinson.”

-

The next rehearsal went smoothly and Harry came to pick his daughter up the same time he did before.

“Harry, right?”

 

Harry turned around to see Louis standing there and trying to get his attention.

“Yes,” Harry said, curious about what the man wanted.

“I actually wanted to ask if you could do a huge favor.”

Harry raised his eyebrow, wondering what exactly this favor was and what he would have to do.

“We need parent volunteers to help with the play - painting the sets, helping with costumes, hair, and makeup, things like that. It would mean a lot to the theater department if you would help us out a little bit.”

Louis smiled slightly and had this look in his eyes, as he thought to himself, “Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.” 

Harry took a moment to think about it and then eventually shrugged his shoulders.

“Sure, why not?”

Elizabeth walked out of the building with her new friends from theater while her father spent time talking to Louis about how the rest of the play would go now that he was technically a part of it.

-

Harry checked his inbox the next morning to see an email from what he assumed was Louis’ email address, sent out to him and several other volunteers.

It was just a reminder of all the rehearsal dates and what everyone would be helping out with from here on out until the play was done.

He quickly typed a reply, simply saying “Sounds good, I’ll be at the next rehearsal” before closing his laptop and going to make breakfast. 

The week went by in a breeze and rehearsal and before everyone knew it, rehearsal came around again. 

Harry arrived at the school relatively early and decided to wait in his car until he was technically supposed to be there.

While he sat in peaceful silence listening to whatever was playing on his car radio, he turned around and saw someone else parking their car in the empty spot next to him in the school parking lot.

He looked up and saw a man stepping out of the car and after taking a closer look, he realized it was Louis.

Harry casually and carefully stepped out of his car and immediately heard a voice from behind him.

“Harry!” he heard someone exclaim, knowing it was Louis.

The two of them struck up a conversation and stood out there talking for what felt like an eternity.

Louis found out that Harry and Elizabeth had just moved and were pretty new to the town, and Elizabeth was taking choir and theater as a way to express herself and get out of her shell a bit more. 

Harry found out that Louis worked at various local theater programs across the country and was hired by the school to assist them with its annual play. 

Then they found out some more knowledge about each other aside from their jobs as a parent or assistant director.

They found out each other’s birthdays and ages, and some other basic and random things like their favorite colors (Harry’s was orange, Louis’ was red), the towns that they were born and raised in (Holmes Chapel and Doncaster), and that they both enjoyed music. 

Louis panicked slightly when he noticed the time on his watch. 

“I’m so sorry, rehearsal’s starting, I have to get to work,” Louis told him, “would you do me a huge favor and get started on painting part of the set?”

Harry nodded yes and followed Louis inside. 

-

The rest of the rehearsals consisted of the same routine every single day for many weeks and months on end.

Harry and Louis always arrived to the campus early and ended up talking for however long they could before rehearsal starts.

Harry found Louis on Facebook - well, Louis found him. He sent a request, which Harry gladly accepted. They messaged each other almost as frequently as they talked outside before rehearsals.

The messages between the two of them had nothing to do with rehearsals, sets, costumes, or the play in general. Those conversations were more like the ones they had in the school parking lot a couple times a week before every single rehearsal. They were about casual, everyday things.

Harry got to know Louis as Louis Tomlinson - single, three years older than him, no children, passionate about music, theater and writing, rather than Mr. Tomlinson, assistant director for the local high school’s annual play.

Louis got to know Harry as a person rather than a parent, and both of them enjoyed that. They liked the fact that they got to know each other more and were able to talk about their lives outside of what they primarily did, whether it was parenting or working. 

It seemed like an unlikely friendship at first, but both of them were very glad that they started talking before rehearsal that one afternoon.

-

Weeks passed by and the dates of the show got closer and closer. Rehearsals became longer and more intense, as there was still plenty to be done, many various things that needed to be tweaked and finished, and seemingly never enough time to successfully finish any of it. 

Louis started to get a bit more stressed about the play as the date of opening night was bound to arrive before he knew it. Harry checked in on him to make sure he was alright and tried to comfort him or, at the very least, take his mind off of things.

Eventually, Harry got up the courage to ask him if he wanted to hang out. He was nervous, to say the least, while he waited for a message back saying yes or no. 

Harry’s heart was racing as he heard his phone buzz, knowing it was a notification from Facebook Messenger that indicated Louis had messaged him back.

He let out a sigh of relief when he noticed the response.

Louis Tomlinson: Sure, I’d like to :)

-

Elizabeth had left to sleep over with some of her friends from theater and rehearse a bit more, which left Harry alone for the night - except for the fact that he wasn’t going to be alone. 

He was going to hang out with Louis for the evening to hopefully take his mind off of the stress that the school play was causing and to get to know him somewhere outside of school and rehearsals. 

He was excited to see Louis again, and wondered if Louis felt the exact same way that he did in that moment.

Harry became more nervous by the minute, anxiously waiting for Louis to arrive at his apartment building. 

He heard a knock on the door and calmly unlocked it, seeing Louis right in front of him. 

“Shall we?” he asked, reaching his arm out to link with Harry’s.

Harry nodded and smiled before locking the door once again and walking to his car.

The drive was quite silent, aside from the occasional “where exactly are we going?” from Louis, to which Harry responded by simply just saying that it was surprise and he would find out soon enough. 

The two of them eventually arrived at one of the fancier restaurants in town. Louis was stunned at the surprise and initially thought it was too much already, but he decided to just try to let that feeling go and enjoy the night.

He walked with Harry into the restaurant to find out a reservation had already been made. The pair sat at a table and were served with drinks before they were given some spare time to decide what they were going to eat.

After ordering their food, Louis and Harry had plenty of time to themselves to hopefully talk rather than just sitting there in complete silence. 

Unfortunately, that’s what was happening. 

It just felt awkward between the two of them for quite some time, and Harry began to get frustrated. The two of them had been talking for weeks on end about so many things and yet, they couldn’t think of a topic of conversation for the time being.

Maybe they’ve gotten to the point where they’ve had so many conversations with each other that they’ve run out of things to talk about, or maybe they didn’t know what to say to each other. 

All that Harry knew was that the silence was upsetting him and he wanted to break it. 

“So, uh, tell me about yourself,” Harry blurted out.

He immediately felt embarrassed after not getting a quick response from Louis. Thankfully, he was at ease and let out a sigh of relief once Louis finally said something back.

“Haven’t I already done so?” Louis said in a slightly sarcastic manner, laughing a little bit at his own comment before taking a sip of his drink.

Harry shrugged his shoulders in agreement.

“Even though we’ve had so many conversations and learned a lot about each other, I feel like there’s a part of you I don’t know. So tell me, who is Louis Tomlinson?”

Harry felt bolder and more confident than he typically would and was happy that this seemed to be going well and that the night would hopefully get better as it went on.

“I write. I’ve had a passion for it before I even had a passion for theater,” Louis began, “I wanted to be a scriptwriter, but I figured it wasn’t really the most ‘realistic’ dream or full-time career. I still wanted to be involved with the theater in some way, shape or form, so I just helped out wherever I could. I designed sets, did costumes and makeup for the actors and actresses, helped out behind the scenes with lighting and other tech issues…”

“Maybe you could do my daughter's makeup for the play,” Harry jokingly suggested before realizing he had interrupted what Louis was saying, “Sorry. Continue.”

Louis cleared his throat and began to speak again.

“So I guess that leads me to where I am now. I assist with the school play. I did so last year, and helped out in some of the local theater programs,” Louis explained.

“Does it make you happy, though? Is it something you’re passionate about?” Harry asked.

Louis paused and was a bit stunned at Harry’s questions. He took a moment to really think about all of it. He looked back on everything he had been doing related to theater for the past couple of years beforehand and asked himself if it made him happy, or if he was just doing it so he could have a more realistic job in the theater industry.

“Honestly,” Louis said, “I don’t really know.”

Harry didn’t really know how to respond, but he wanted to encourage Louis to do what would be best for him.

If Louis was happy with his job and his life in general, then Harry would be happy as well.

“Honestly,” Harry began, “I think you should go for it. Do something that you’re passionate about. Do something that will make you happy. Do something that will make you excited to get up every single morning and face the day. It doesn’t matter if it’s the highest paying job or one that doesn’t pay much. It doesn’t matter if it’s a part of a hard field or industry to make it into, or if it’s a really easy job to get. It doesn’t matter how hard or simple the job itself even is. All that matters is that at the end of the day, it’s something that you love and something that you would want to do for the rest of your life.”

Louis smiled and almost had tears in his eyes after Harry’s little ‘follow your dreams’ speech, no matter how cliché it seemed.

He was overjoyed knowing that Harry seemed to want him to be happy more than anything. That was a clear and blatant sign that Harry truly, genuinely cared about him, his happiness, and overall well-being, and that meant the absolute world to him. 

“Thank you, Harry,” Louis said with a smile, “Really, it means a lot.”

“Of course,” Harry said, smiling back at Louis, “You mean a lot to me.”

The rest of the evening went by quicker than either of them had expected or wanted it to, and before they knew it, they ended up back on the front porch of Harry’s house. . 

“Thank you again for tonight, Harry,” Louis said, “I had a good time.”

“Of course,” Harry replied, “and so did I.”

The two of them hugged each other before Louis walked back to his car, which was still parked on the street, and Harry watched him drive away before going back inside.

He spent a few minutes on the phone with Elizabeth, just to check in on her and see how she was doing and, fortunately, she was just fine and about to go to sleep.

Harry went to his room, climbed into bed, and just stared at the ceiling, reminiscing on every little detail of what had happened that evening.

-

Monday came around and the dress rehearsals were about to begin.

Harry had spent countless nights sewing many different costumes for all the actors and actresses in the play, making sure they were perfect and ready to go for the week of dress rehearsals.

Harry drove to the school Monday afternoon with his car trunk stuffed with several boxes, all filled with costumes and props that he had helped create.

When Harry saw Louis that day, he couldn’t help but grin at the expression on Louis’ face when he saw all the costumes and props Harry had worked so hard on and put so much effort into.

“Wow,” Louis said with wide eyes, still stunned at how much Harry did and how well he did it.

Harry couldn’t help but continue to smile.

“This is amazing! Thank you so much!” Louis exclaimed.

The two of them walked into the school building together, carrying on yet another casual conversation as they headed into the first dress rehearsal feeling more confident in the play than they had before.

Louis knew that with Harry by his side, helping and supporting him in one way or another, there’s nothing he couldn’t face. 

-

It was opening night and Louis was a wreck.

He was pacing around the school parking lot, just hoping that everything was going to work out and that nothing would go wrong.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts and jumped a bit when he could’ve sworn he heard someone call out his name.

He let out a sigh of relief when he realized it was Harry who seemed to be trying to get his attention.

Harry saw the look of sheer panic on Louis’ face and wanted to do anything he could to make things any better.

Without a second thought, Harry pulled Louis in for a hug, in an attempt to comfort him, and reminded him that things would be okay and he was going to be there for him.

 

Surely enough, opening night went well, and Louis could not have been more proud of the show he helped bring to life.

The rest of the shows went just as smoothly as opening night did. The final show was all sold out and, although Louis was even more nervous than he was on opening night, he knew that Harry was going to be there for him, and that brought him a sense of peace and comfort. 

When the last show ended and the curtain closed, Elizabeth immediately ran up to her father, who hugged her tight and reminded her how proud he was of her and how well she performed.

“Let’s celebrate!” Harry exclaimed. 

Harry took Elizabeth to a nearby restaurant to get a late dinner in honor of how well the play went, and he brought Louis along with.

Elizabeth started to get to know Louis a lot more and by the time winter break came around, she was actually a bit upset that she wasn’t going to see him until the new year. At least, that’s what she thought would happen.

Louis came to visit the first day of winter break.

Nearly every day, Louis would come over, or she would go sleep over at a friend’s house and hear all about the time Harry spent with Louis when she returned home the following morning.

She had really gotten used to having Louis around, and not only knowing him as someone who helped out at the school, but as someone who seemed like a close friend to her father.

When Christmas was right around the corner, she figured that something was up and that maybe, just maybe, they were more than just really close friends. 

-

A couple of days had passed by and before Louis knew it, December 24th had arrived.

Sure, it was Christmas Eve, and he assumed that Harry would probably have wanted to celebrate the holidays with Elizabeth. 

The same day was also Louis’ birthday, and he started to feel a little bit upset when he didn’t hear from Harry all day. Harry didn’t send him a text or post on his Facebook wall saying “Happy Birthday,” nor did he even take a couple of minutes to call Louis and do the same.

Louis had spent so much time with Harry that whenever they were apart, it felt weird and he honestly felt a bit empty. 

After what felt like forever, Louis heard his phone ring and smiled once he realized who was calling him.

“Hey, how are you-“ he asked before immediately getting interrupted.

“Happy birthday!” Harry exclaimed.

Louis laughed at his enthusiasm.

“Thank you, Harry,” he said. 

“Do you want to come over so we can celebrate?” Harry asked, “Unless you have nothing else to do, of course.”

“Yes,” Louis answered.

“Are you sure? I mean, it is your birthday, after all,” Harry told him, wondering if Louis genuinely wanted to spend his birthday hanging out with Harry or if he wanted to spend it doing something else with somebody else. 

“I’d love to spend the day with you,” Louis said with a smile before hanging up the phone and driving to Harry’s apartment. 

-

Harry took Louis out to lunch and the two of them had the chance to discuss what they were doing for the holidays and, more specifically, Christmas Day.

“I’m assuming it’s going to be just you and Elizabeth,” Louis said, wondering if he was right about what Harry had planned for Christmas.

“Yeah. My mum and sister are away, so it’s just the two of us this year,” Harry replied.

Louis noticed a more upsetting look on Harry’s face and could tell he seemed a little bit sad by the tone in his voice when he said that last sentence. 

“How would you like to stay with my family and I for the weekend?” Louis asked, hoping that it would make this time of year a little less lonely for Harry and Elizabeth. 

“Really?” Harry asked with wide eyes, “Are you sure? I don’t want to be a burden or anything.”

“You wouldn’t be,” Louis answered, reassuring Harry that this was a good idea, “I’ve told my family about you and they’d probably be overjoyed to finally meet you. One of my younger sisters is around Elizabeth’s age, so they might get along pretty well.”

“Alright then,” Harry said, “I’ll talk to Elizabeth, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind spending more time with you.”

Louis smiled, feeling almost certain that Harry and Elizabeth would be celebrating the special day with his family.

-

As the hours went by and the early evening came along, Louis was starting to wonder when Harry and Elizabeth would arrive, if they would even arrive at all. 

Once he heard a knock on the door, he rushed to open it and was very happy to see who was standing on his front porch.

He smiled and welcomed Harry and Elizabeth into his house before introducing them to his family. Elizabeth went off to hang out with Louis’ sisters, and his youngest siblings were already asleep, which left him and Harry practically by themselves for awhile.

“Now that we’re alone,” Louis began, “can I tell you something?”

“Of course,” Harry said, “go ahead.”

Louis took a breath and exhaled as he tried to figure out exactly what he was going to say and how he was going to say it. He could not mess this up.

“I… like you,” he mumbled.

“What?” Harry asked, putting his hand to his ear, signaling that he couldn’t hear what Louis had said.

“I like you,” Louis said, raising his voice a little bit more.

Harry looked shocked at that statement, but quickly smiled and said something back.

“I like you, too.”

-

After a few years, there were a few huge, life-changing moments for Harry and Louis. Harry started to play and write music a bit more often, while Louis took a leap of faith and put so much passion into scriptwriting. Regardless of what was going on in their individual lives, there was one thing that had remained constant. 

Louis and Harry’s relationship was stronger than it had ever been.

The two of them found time to see each other, no matter how hectic one or both of their lives was at that point in time.

They had started a Christmas tradition of visiting Louis’ family, and on New Year’s, Louis would visit Harry’s mother and sister.

Although that routine seemed like it would continue to be the same for years to come, one year made things different for the both of them and had changed their lives forever. 

Harry proposed to Louis on his birthday, to which Louis had excitedly said yes.

The wedding was pretty simplistic and nothing too major. Their families and closest friends were invited for a small, intimate ceremony and reception.

As they had their first dance in the middle of a fancy ballroom floor and looked at each other as a married couple for the first time, they knew that they would always be in each other’s lives, no matter what. 

That’s exactly how they wanted it.


End file.
